Georgian Airways Will Not Allow President of Georgia to Board Their Plane

The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, will not be allowed to board a Georgian Airways plane. The reason is her declaration regarding a boycott of the airline, stated Tamaz Gaiashvili, the founder of the airline, as reported by TASS.

According to him, Zurabishvili should apologize to the citizens of Georgia for her unacceptable public statements. “Ms. Salome has announced a boycott of the national airline. We declare her persona non grata, and until she apologizes to the Georgian people, we will not allow her to board the plane,” Gaiashvili elaborated.

The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, announced that she is boycotting and will no longer use the services of Georgian Airways, as it has started operating flights to the Russian Federation. “I hereby announce a boycott of Georgian Airways and urge others to join. This is a company that the state is using to enrich itself. This was the case during previous governments. It continued during COVID, and now it wants to take advantage of the new reality (the resumption of flights to Russia), which is unacceptable to the majority of our population,” said Zurabishvili during a press briefing held last week.

On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree abolishing the visa regime for Georgian citizens starting May 15. Another decree lifted the ban on flights by Russian airlines and the sale of tours to Georgia, which had been in place since 2019. A Russian Azimut airline plane landed at Tbilisi International Airport on May 19, marking the first flight from Moscow to Tbilisi in four years. On May 20, Georgia's national carrier Georgian Airways commenced direct flights. From June, the Russian airline Red Wings will also begin flights to Georgia.